


What Is Veiled and What Is Revealed

by Rens_Knight



Series: In the Burning of the Light [19]
Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, General fiction, Literature, fan fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-05-07
Packaged: 2020-02-10 15:59:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18663610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rens_Knight/pseuds/Rens_Knight
Summary: Darth Imperius.  Tarssus Kallig.  The Outlander.  All of these names describe the heretic Sith Lord who must lead an Alliance to strike back against the Eternal Empire.  Though his Light-infused way of living the Sith Code has lain the groundwork for the role he takes now, there is more he must do to prepare for the coming confrontation with Arcann.To take the next step, he must reckon with two of the other most powerful Force-wielders of his time...





	1. The Quick

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ACelestialDream](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ACelestialDream/gifts).



**Star Wars: The Old Republic **  
**In the Burning of the Light**

**"What Is Veiled and What Is Revealed"**  
**Part 1: The Quick  
**

I should have been dead.  Again.

One thing was for certain, as I returned to consciousness deep in the Odessen forest: the Emperor's transition from ruler of the Sith to Valkorion, master of the Eternal Empire, had not in the slightest tempered his absolute hatred for defiance.  If he hadn't wanted defiance, I thought to myself, then he should have known better than to attempt possession of _me_ , of all people.

I had never taken kindly to those who sought to _own_ others, whether in the body, or in the mind.  My acerbic wit had earned me plenty of punishment from my shock collar as a slave.  The overseers had only trained me in the ways of lightning, though neither they nor I had known it at the time.  Darth Zash had chased her prophecy and sought to seize my body for her own.  She had taken Khem Val--partially, for a time--but in the end it had brought about her demise: Khem and I had drawn her out of him and into a Rakata mind prison, which I had then disposed of into the maw of a black hole, where I never had to fear anyone finding the device and freeing her and imprisoning themselves.

True, I knew Valkorion to be an entirely different level of foe.  He had consumed entire _worlds_ \--Nathema, Ziost.  He had usurped the wills of his Hands, his Voices, and nearly all the ones he had claimed as his Children.  He had subjected his former Wrath, Lord Scourge, to a ritual that had granted a sort of immortality at the cost of all that made life worth living.  And presumably there was a man to whom the name and body of Valkorion had once belonged.  He, too, had fallen victim.

Even Darth Marr, who refused to be conquered, had died.

But Kira Carsen, apprentice to the Jedi Hero of Tython Iru Lhis, had escaped her fate to become just another of the Emperor's vessels.  And Rûmaz, his second Wrath, had kept his wits about him and seen him for what he was in time to avoid the same sort of doom as Scourge.

As for myself...I could feel the Emperor's vile presence out there somewhere, like a spectral web, waiting to choke the life out of me at any instant as soon as my goal--to defeat the Eternal Empire--and his...to return to its throne...ceased to coincide.  I was no fool: I had seen it with Zash before, as she sent me about the galaxy to claim artifacts whose purpose, she had assured me, was to sharpen my abilities.  I knew better to imagine that Valkorion's own strengthening of my powers in the Force meant anything other than his wish to claim all that I was to his service someday.

For now, though...all I could do was forge ahead, and hope that somewhere along the way I might find how to free our peoples from the Eternal Empire without simply turning them over to the immortal one's rule under yet another guise.  

As for the definition of "ahead"...that I was having a _very_ difficult time indeed sussing out.  I had lost track of my location in the forest, since suffering Valkorion's punishment.  What's more--I had the unnerving sense that someone had moved my body while I was unconscious.

All of which meant that I was well and thoroughly lost.

Desperate for _some_ sort of anchor, I reached out through the Force, past myself and towards... _power_.

It wasn't Valkorion, thank all that was precious.  There was _something_ familiar about the aura that permeated the Odessen woods, but I couldn't truly place it.  What I _was_ sure of was that this was a Force spirit of immense power.  And beneath it... _another_ aura, fainter to me but only because its source was still amongst the living.  If not for the nearby spirit, I should not have thought it the lesser, for to pick up on a single being outside of my family from this distance was quite the feat for me.

Half anticipating what lay before me and half dreading this concentration of energy to be a trap laid before me by Valkorion, I picked my way through the forest in search of a vantage point from which I might assess the opportunity—or threat—that awaited.

Eventually I found myself gazing down upon an unmistakable glow: not that of a Force-ghost, but of a campfire.  The site around it had seen habitation for some time, to judge from the work that had been put into clearing the foliage around the fire.  The Force-ghost had hidden itself from sight, but I knew it was still there.  And the diminutive, robed figure I could see sitting before it…

Whether she had spied me through the Force herself, or the spirit presence accompanying her had given her warning, I was not sure, but the effect was the same: she rose and made directly for me.  I did not ignite my saber, but still, held my ground so that she would have to approach me, further from her outdoor sanctum.

For this was no faceless Jedi.  This was Satele Shan, the vanished Grand Master of the Jedi Order herself.

She did not smile--not precisely--but there _was_ that damnable Jedi detachment about her.  The same detachment that had faded away from my wife Lord Ashara, to be replaced with love and _life_.  But my beloved was not here now.  And what I _did_ know about Satele Shan was that she was immensely powerful.

She did not draw her weapon, but that did not mean she was not still a force to be reckoned with.  "I've waited for you for a long time," she said.  _For what purpose exactly?_ I wondered.  Then she added, "Welcome to my home, Outlander Imperius."

"Jedi Master Satele Shan.  I know who you are as well."  I folded my arms across my chest.  "But what is it that has brought you _here_?  Do tell me Valkorion hasn't shoved his vile nose into _your_ business as well as mine.  He's made himself a most unwelcome 'companion' ever since I was revived--claims I'm to 'train' further, though I shan't care to imagine what _his_ purposes in it might be.  I would imagine your own spectral guest would have told you of Valkorion's presence...?"

Master Shan, for her part, didn't bite.  "All in its own time, Imperius," she admonished as if scolding an impatient youngling, as the Jedi called their acolytes.

I was tired of being toyed with--first by Valkorion, and now by the erstwhile vanished head of the Jedi Order?  I was not having it.  "If you truly know of me, you should know I can sense that we are not alone...and I am _not_ simply referring to Valkorion.  There _is_ another presence here, and a powerful one at that."

Satele Shan sighed.  "Yes--there _is_ another one here.  And strangely enough for an immortal being, _his_ sense of time is much more like yours than mine.  _And_ \--"  A faint sparkle shone in her eye.  "He's surprisingly insistent on proper hospitality towards guests.  So come, sit with me in front of the fire.  You've survived an ordeal, and I'm sure you could use a meal."

"Perhaps," I remarked towards the Force ghost, who had yet to show... _his_ form, according to Master Shan, "hospitality towards guests might involve revealing yourself.  Master Shan is right about one thing--I am entirely too exhausted at the moment to go Force-walking after you..."

A wry smile crossed Master Shan's face.  "He seems to think you'll be too distracted to eat if he manifests right this moment.  Food first, Force-ghost later."  At least this time, it didn't sound entirely like a parent reprimanding a child.

Clearly I wasn't about to get _that_ question answered at the moment, especially with how drained my near-fatal bout with Valkorion had left me.  I could see nothing else to do but take my seat at the Jedi Grand Master's side.  She gestured towards some sort of fowl roasting on a spit over the fire.  I made no effort to disguise my hunger as I reached for it and began to eat.

"Many things changed while you slept in carbonite," Master Shan began.  _As if I had a bloody_ choice _in the matter!_ I thought angrily to myself.  _Five years_ of my life stolen away from me and from my family, rendered helpless to aid any of them!  "Your loss was a much severer blow to the galaxy than I could ever have imagined at the time," she admitted.  I felt my features soften a bit at the surprisingly heartfelt words.  I wondered, however, why she didn't mention Darth Marr--his loss had meant just as much if not _more_ , considered his far more long-standing leadership role within the Sith Empire. 

Master Shan's mask of serenity had, at least for the moment, slipped away.  She stared off into the distance.  "I led the fight to save the Republic from Zakuul.  Nothing prepared me to face that enemy.  I failed...again, and again."

"But this camp isn't new," I pointed out.  "You've been on Odessen for a while.  And from all I heard, it's been _years_ since the galaxy has had word of you.  _Why_ , when I would have thought the Republic even _more_ opposed to the rule of a foreign Empire than my own home?"

Master Shan glanced down at her food.  "When the Republic surrendered to Arcann, I gave myself to the Force.  I left the Core Worlds and found this planet.  We've been here for years...waiting."

"You simply... _left?!_ "  I couldn't help myself.  The thought incensed me.  Many Sith Lords--to include Ashara, Cytharat, Rûmaz, and even Xalek before he'd begun his personal...and ultimately fatal quest for vengeance--had refused to accept the surrender and had committed a series of attacks against the Eternal Empire.  They had been uncoordinated attacks true, and for her part, Empress Acina had disclaimed responsibility, but _also_ conveniently claimed a lack of resources to prevent it beyond a pro forma show of force.  But in her own way, it had been _something_.  What did Satele Shan have to _her_ name?  "You abandoned your people, your Order, _all_ of us, and did _nothing_ to weaken or at least _distract_ the Eternal Empire?  I would have given _anything_ to remain in the fight instead of being frozen away for _five years_ \--and you simply walked away?  How could you willingly do such a thing?!" 

"You seem to think I simply _ran_ from the battlefield," Master Shan retorted, before she could suppress all impression that my judgment mattered to her.  "That is not how it actually went.  My connection to the Force was suffering, and to be completely truthful, it was affecting my ability to lead the Order.  I recognized that, and I went to the Council.  There was an orderly transition into a new, decentralized state, one better prepared to cope with the necessity of avoiding the possibility of being destroyed in a single blow.  It was time for the Jedi Order to move _beyond_ its dependence on me, much as your Empire had to move beyond the old structures Vitiate created."

Knowing that helped at least _somewhat_.  If Satele Shan had come to recognize at least some of the stranglehold the Jedi leadership held on the minds and actions of their Order--and her place as a symbol of that rule--as a liability, when independence and adaptation...the strengths of the Sith...were in greater need, and had willingly chosen to step aside before the cost to her people could rise even further, then I supposed I could accept that.  Darth Vowrawn had made the same choice when what could have been the endgame of his rise to power had arrived:  to yield to Empress Acina instead and to recognize that his leadership--tainted by association with the surrender, and decades of his own scheming--were not what the Empire as a whole needed during this precarious time.

But Vowrawn still served the Sith Empire, just not as its Emperor.  His power at least offered some protection to Imperial citizens, ensured basic necessities were looked after no matter how much Valkorion and Arcann surely hoped the Sith Empire would crumble in starvation and squalor.  If the Jedi Order had indeed fragmented, why did she not at least serve one of its components?

"Why Odessen?" I pressed.  "You speak as though you were here before the Alliance ever arrived.  This world had no permanent settlements before that.  I brought my own crew here a few times in the past, for privacy and refuge.  But we never stayed, and never announced the fact we had ever been here.  Whatever could have compelled you out into the unpopulated wilderness in a time of such great need?"

"My younger self would have said the idea of a Sith Lord caring about the needs of anyone--even if _just_ the Empire--was ridiculous," Master Shan mused softly as if to herself.  "As for the person I'm becoming..."  She paused for several long seconds before speaking again.  "I hoped that even if I could contribute nothing to the battle itself, I might at least be able to learn more of the Force.  Something I could bring back to someone else.  Someone who really could make a difference."

Now Master Shan looked me square in the eyes.  "Lord Imperius--I never thought that person might be _you_."

"You expected a Jedi, I imagine."  I tried to hold the judgment out of my voice.  But the statement in itself was enough.

"Yes," she admitted.  "I did.  But clearly the Force had something else in mind.  There has been a great deal of that since the Eternal Empire came.  It was the one with me who first opened my eyes to the possibility.  He sensed your awakening on Zakuul.  Together we felt the presence of our old enemy guiding you.  We witnessed the victories and defeats leading you here.  When we found you unconscious in that clearing, we faced a choice: bring you here...or end you there."

My eyes flared wide.  From Master Lhis I would have expected such a thing.  That, amongst other reasons, was why the Jedi Council had never made him one of them, and had only grudgingly even elevated him to the level of Master.  But from this source--the Grand Master herself...that was something else entirely.  "That sounds rather unlike the Jedi I remember.  You were unprepared to face reality before.  Now..."

"Now," said Master Shan, "it seems what's befallen the galaxy is greater than Jedi or Sith.  There are unseen influences working through me...Valkorion...and especially you.  Valkorion strengthened your bond to the Force--so my companion tells me.  You may be the greatest of us all, but your old training couldn't prepare you for what's to come.  What will...is nothing you received through the Sith Academy, or through your former master."

I narrowed my eyes at that.  Just how much did she _know_ of my true nature?  She surely could not sense it in full--no more than even the most powerful of the Dark Council ever could.  Even now the secret of my heresy was not entirely safe to reveal, lest I lose my allies amongst the Sith Order.  "I am my own Sith," I stated simply.  "My Academy is the galaxy."

"Then perhaps this world--Odessen--truly does something to offer you," Master Shan replied.  "Perhaps you have sensed it, now and on your prior journeys here.  On Odessen, Light and Dark exist in perfect balance, forming a nexus in the Force.  There is another world like it...Zakuul."

Odessen's nature, of course, I was well familiar with.  That of Zakuul, however...the gilded cage Valkorion had constructed for his people had not exactly struck me as a paragon of any sort of _balance_ considering who had built an empire around it, and whose progeny now ruled it.  "I would _hardly_ consider being swaddled in luxury to deaden one's mind to the true galaxy any sort of _balance_ ," I retorted.  "And you Jedi wonder why we say peace is a lie.  Zakuul is the utter _epitome_ of that."

"Nonetheless," Satele Shan replied with a hint of exasperation, "their world _does_ offer them a unique foundation.  It is quite different to training on Tython.  Or even Korriban, for that matter.  That is presumably what led Valkorion to conduct his grand 'experiment' there.  Thus Arcann and his Knights learned to use the Force in a different way than Jedi and Sith.  It's why we couldn't truly defeat them.  Jedi approach the Force as a companion, and Sith try to enslave it."

"I have been a slave," I pointedly reminded the Jedi master.  "One _enslaves_ a being whose will refuses to conform to one's own.  One does not enslave that which is _already_ a tool by fact of nature.  The Force is thoroughly embedded into nature; the fact that we can test it--repeatedly--shows that beyond a doubt.  My lightsaber has no more will than did the hammer I wielded in the forge.  Whatever in the performance of both does not channel my will is down to the laws of nature.  I am not fool enough to pretend there is not even _more_ to the universe than the Force--phenomena we do not and cannot understand.  I have experienced the intersection of the two...multiple times...and I am left with more questions each time than I am answers."

"Master of the Dead," Shan muttered under her breath as a visible frisson ran down her seated body.  "I can't imagine what the forbidden rituals you've performed must do to people's perspectives if even the _Sith_ forbade them.  But then I suspect most Sith who went before you down that path didn't return to tell about it as _coherently_ as you do.  Reconciling the stories about your...Force-walking...with the man who's shown enough temperance to cobble together an alliance out of completely incompatible parts...seems impossible.  Except for the fact that you're here, sitting across from me.

"As for Arcann's Knights...they see the Force as a sort of tool.  But they view it as a tool _given_ to them as their reward for serving an ideal.  They swear their lives to the Eternal Emperor.  The more they honor his commandments, the greater their power.  They believe he is their mediator and intercessor on behalf of the Force.  Therefore the Knights obey their master without question, sacrificing everything for his triumph.  Devotion makes them strong.  You must become stronger."

What was the Grand Master of the Jedi Order implying--that I subordinate myself utterly to someone, surrender my strength in the Force to their control?  And to whom?Her?  _Valkorion?_   That would not do.  At all.  "Again--you are mistaken," I warned Master Shan.  "The Knights of Zakuul are _slaves_ to the Eternal Emperor.  I will never be like them!" 

And it was in that moment that the Force-spirit--the presence that had accompanied Satele Shan from the outset--chose to reveal his form.

When the ethereal shape resolved, I drew in a sharp breath, for the intake of breath itself was as a spear to my heart.

Indeed, I was called the Master of the Dead.  I had encountered many a Force ghost in the time since the wakening of my powers.  There had been enemies, there had been kinsmen long passed on, there was the terror that was Valkorion that hovered about somewhere in the void, waiting to latch on to my essence once more...but never a man I had known and worked closely with in life.  And with his form, had come his _full reality_. 

There Darth Marr stood, separated from me only by death.  And by that...far less than I had been separated from him by life.

My heart pounded fiercely within my chest as I shot to my feet.  It was only by a fierce exertion of will over by body that the abrupt shift did not bring me crashing back down to my knees as his name passed between my lips.

The armored ghost--my former...no, _current!_...colleague--spoke, with words of warning.  " _Take heed, Imperius.  Those who do not bend, break._ " 

"Darth Marr!" I exclaimed for a second time.  "I...I never thought to see you again, until I make the journey for myself."

He was _there_.  _Right there_ before me with a clarity that _burnt_ straight down to my soul.  That which had veiled the full magnitude of Marr's presence from me--just as it currently did that of Satele Shan--had lifted with his passage into the next world.

And even though Darth Marr had had longer to adjust to the new truth _he_ had undoubtedly learnt, I could sense it, unmistakable: the lingering astonishment that still radiated from _him_ , upon confirming why my aura in the Force had always been so clouded to him.  And what had truly lain beneath.

The full intensity of Marr's focus settled upon me.  I _knew_ it just as I always did with Lord Aloysius--it emanated just as intensely from Marr as it did from my ancient, masked ancestor, though where for Lord Aloysius there was grandfatherly pride, for Darth Marr there was fiery resolve.  " _Valkorion destroyed my flesh, Imperius--but not my reason for being._ "

"You never feared death as so many of the others do," I noted.  "I always respected you for that.  You never strove for immortality as Zash and the Emperor have.  That said...I had the impression you rather _longed_ for death's release.  Yet you have chosen to intervene in our world after your passage..."

Darth Marr released a spectral sigh.  " _It is true_ ," he admitted.  " _I never envisioned this for myself.  Just as my body bore the ravages of time and immense power, my spirit wearied of the world as well.  I longed to relinquish that connection entirely, and find some way to reach to the Places Beyond.  I still long to do so, in every moment I extend my presence here to Odessen.  But...just as it has always been with you, I will not leave our Empire undefended.  Thus after my defeat, I sought an ally to make things right again.  But of those among the living and waking, only one in all the galaxy was my equal.  We met on this world.  We argued...we explored...and found an understanding.  We now pass that knowledge to you...though I have found myself wondering as the years pass, if perhaps you already possess the foundations for yourself._ "

I bit my tongue, hopeful the subtle gesture might escape the notice of Master Shan, but I was not overly optimistic.  As for Marr, though...he spoke in riddles around the Jedi Master, but I was nearly sure of it: he _knew_ now, _knew_ me for a heretic.  "I have formed individual alliances, yes," I replied.  "I have worked with Master Lhis on Oricon, and with Master Shan's son here, along with Major Jorgan and the other Republic soldiers.  And my wife, Lord Ashara..."  Master Shan winced at the title.  "Ours is the greatest alliance of them all.  But if Jedi and Sith have found a way to work together on a galactically meaningful scale, then I long to know how, for it may be the help of us all.

"In fact..."  I glanced over at Darth Marr, for now, even with his hidden visage, it was he from whom I would best sense the truth.  "Has she apprenticed herself to you?"

The Jedi Grand Master, however, was having none of it.  "We are equals.  Explorers."

" _Colleagues, if you will_ ," Marr added, in half-confirmation.  Perhaps _he_ supposed himself to be the one doing more of the imparting of knowledge than the absorbing of it.  But for the sake of the armistice between them--to which I now became party--I pushed no further.

"No one is more surprised to be here in this moment," Master Shan said.  Then she gazed off into the distance.  "But I trust the will of the Force."

I tried my utmost not to roll my eyes.  If in _any_ respect Satele Shan was indeed the student of Darth Marr, then I supposed her a rather less-than-pliable sort of pupil.  " _We do not offer empty platitudes_ ," Marr clarified as if for reassurance.  Perhaps it _was_ reassurance, for--heretic or not, I _was_ still Sith and we _did_ still speak the same language.  " _We do not promise easy victory._ "

To that I offered one sharp nod.  "Good.  Anyone who promised _that_ I would know immediately to be a liar."

" _You never were one to fall for baseless rhetoric_ ," Marr noted.  " _Many lords of far higher birth and education could do to learn from your example._ "

Blood rushed to my cheeks.  Oh, yes--there was the irony of the Councillor of the Sphere of Ancient Knowledge, one of the most scholarly of the Spheres of Influence, being a slave-tradesman, lacking even the full equivalent of the secondary-school diploma a highborn family like the Drelliks would consider only the mere _foundation_ of an education.  True, I had read voraciously and explored restlessly--the galaxy was my Academy indeed.  But even now, and perhaps even _more_ so as I stood at the head of an interstellar alliance, I felt as if a paper-thin facade stood between me and those I led.

"We have spent five years in the shedding of pretensions," Master Shan said.  "Only in this emptying-out do we claim to offer anything of note.  All we ask of you now is that you listen with an open mind...and learn from our failures."

"I can listen," I replied, folding my arms across my chest.  "That much I can promise."

" _Very well_ ," Darth Marr declared.  " _Then begin with this.  To forge the future, you must first break with the past.  Victory over Arcann requires the refining of new perspectives...and new weapons._ "

My hand flew instinctively to my lightsaber--the very same I had inherited from Lord Aloysius.  And then there was the matter of my diadem, forged from steel I'd harvested from his ancient battle mask.  Marr, perhaps, now recognized the diadem for what it was, and comprehended the protective spells imbued within, though I had no wish for Master Shan to know...current ally or not.  For all I knew, those very spells might well be mitigating the effects of Valkorion's manipulations.  I was loath to surrender these tools--these talismans.  And there was more.  "Whether or not the tactics of the past remain valid," I told my former...no, _current_ colleage once more, "the past itself is to be learnt from, not disowned or forgotten.  I had the choice to strike Darth Thanaton from the historical record, but I did not because I wished our Empire to learn from _his_ failures, in hopes they might be less often repeated."

" _And therein lies the difference_ ," Marr pointed out.  " _Thanaton sought to live entirely in the past; he could not endure the present time and what it required of him, and the Empire as a whole.  You, Imperius--you_ _understand how to sift the past for its wheat, and discard the chaff.  That is the task before you now.  Not to destroy all that you were and are, but to build upon it._ "

"So this new weapon..." I mused.  "What shall it be?  I've not much training in Jar'kai, nor with the saberstaff..."  Both of those options--dual-wielding as my wife did, or modifying my saber into a staff, would at least allow me to keep my current weapon in some form or another.  But the first especially would be such a hindrance to my lightning...the power I channeled through my body and hands would run the risk of shorting out any powered weapon I carried if the current passed directly through the hand wielding it.

"Follow us into the wilderness beyond this camp," Master Shan said, gesturing deeper into the forest.  "I had not expected to reveal this to you so soon, but Darth Marr felt that there would be greater value in this for you than anything else we could possibly show you."

The three of us proceeded through the darkened forest.  I couldn't help enjoying the irony for a moment: to my unusually-calibrated Force senses especially, it seemed as though the ghostly Darth Marr lit the way, casting Satele Shan in a moonlit glow that left the opposite side of her silhouetted deep in shadow.

As we passed between the trees, I started: for a moment, I glimpsed what seemed like Valkorion's maddened daughter Vaylin staring back at me.  Her presence in the Force--amongst the living, it had even surpassed the power of Darth Marr and of Satele Shan.  She had perceived my spirit whilst I was still locked in a carbonite-induced Force-walking trance with her father--and her attack had very nearly pierced through the barrier between realms and into me.  _That_ presence, at least, I did not detect here.  Nor did I feel the abiding _reality_ that now defined the Force-ghost at my side, the affinity to that side of myself that already lay beyond.  Thus I deduced it was merely a vision...nothing in which I had or ever would place credence. 

But there was this fact, at least: Master Shan spoke of me as the greatest of those who wielded the Force...but if there was one thing the lurking vision within the forest made me deeply mindful of, it was that I dared not let myself be deceived by Vaylin's shattered mind: this was a madness quite capable of making its ravings into reality and, without the bounds of even Valkorion's warped sort of sanity, could very well surpass the most horrid of his creations.  Entropy--chaos incarnate.  That was what I faced.  And whatever my power might or might not be, I had to face the reality that my raw power might simply not be enough.

"What is it?"  I nearly started again, this time at the voice of Master Shan.  _Damn it, Tarssus_ , I chided myself, _for something that holds no power of its own you certainly are_ giving _it quite a bit with_ that _sort of reaction._

Darth Marr did not give me time to answer before he did it for me.  " _He has seen a vision.  I saw the Force-currents around us taking shape in response to his presence._ "

"What did you see?" the Jedi prodded.

I sighed.  Master Shan would surely assign it greater significance than it had--but I dared not hide the truth, especially with the insight into me that Darth Marr's death gave him.  "The Emperor's daughter, Vaylin," I grudgingly replied.  "Tracking me, hunting me.  She is mad--but not _disorganized_ , I suppose you'd call it.  Certainly not enough so to not be able to lock onto a target and pursue it to the death.  Still...it is an illusion.  Not reality.  It does not dictate what's to come."

"A bond to the Force as intense as yours brings with it powerful insight," the former Grand Master countered.  "You'd do well to take notice of what it gives you."

" _Heed what you saw_ ," Marr echoed as we continued to traverse the nighttime wilderness.  " _There is still a message to hold in mind.  Behind Arcann stands Vaylin...and behind her, many others.  They will all try to stop you.  This is why the weapon you wield now can no longer serve you alone, nor even the ways of the Sith alone.  The lightsaber you inherited was built for different wars, different enemies.  It still holds significance, but it can no longer serve you alone._ "

Marr cast a glance over my head--I resisted the urge to smirk, for not everyone could manage _that_ feat in light of my own height--and, through his visor, heseemed to catch the eye of Master Shan." _The Jedi have always thought our use of artifacts, rituals, and spells, to be a crutch instead of a practical use of the Force_ ," he said.  " _Except, that is, for the construction of one's weapon.  There, Sith and Jedi both recognize the importance of the extension of the self into the material world.  As for that self, Imperius...what you have endured has changed you.  And the galaxy has changed around you.  You must embody that change_ _in a new weapon._ "

I asked, "So what exactly _is_ it I am to build, then, if not a replacement for my ancestor's saber?"

"I wouldn't call it _building_ ," Master Shan clarified--insomuch as anything she said was what I would consider truly _clear_.  "Darth Marr tells me you have some experience as a blacksmith."

"I am no master smith," I demurred.  "But I have forged weapons, yes.  Are you implying I ought to create some sort of blade when I return to base?"

Master Shan shook her head.  We were approaching the mouth of a cave--and without a word, she halted.  Before me stood a contraption that resembled a small, overturned satellite dish--or more closely yet, the grill Andronikos Revel had used during our sojourn years ago to this planet, to cook the game he and Khem Val had hunted down.  But _this_ device I knew immediately for what it was: a coal forge.

Also in the cave entrance I spotted a hammer and anvil, tongs, a file, and an array of other tools--far from my accustomed setup, given that I typically worked on propane forge with access to power tools if I so desired.  During my youth as a slave, however, my owner had ensured that his Rattataki master smith, Rajjar, and myself as Rajjar's apprentice, learnt the necessary skills to forge entirely by the ancient methods, if he so ordered.  For him the purpose had been to mark up the price even further on our works.

This, however...the meaning of _this_ would be entirely different.  Darth Marr waved an ethereal, gloved hand at a bar of steel that waited for me to give it form.  " _You will forge a war knife_ ," he explained, " _in which you will embody a pure extension of the Force's power...but one you alone control.  This is the most ancient of Force-users' weaponry, dating back to the times before Sith and Jedi split apart.  With such a timeless weapon at your side, you can unite a thousand stars._ "

"We each offer to add our strength to yours," Master Shan said, "but you must be the guiding hand that focuses the power, and decides what form it takes.  You may work with either or both of us.  The Force led me to prepare for this moment, but it did not reveal who would remain with you as you forge."  Still, the look the Jedi woman fixed on me made it clear what _she_ thought the wisest choice.

And perhaps that _would_ have been the wisest choice.  But the fierce flame of Force that burnt to her side--it was more than mere power that ultimately compelled me to my answer.  More than merely sharing membership in the same Order.  For that was not the only way in which we were, at least partially, of the same kind. 

"Master Shan...I thank you for the offer," I informed her, "though I must reject it."  The former Grand Master of the Jedi Order may have sought to hide her disappointment, but I saw the tightness around her lips anyway, the subtle sagging of the shoulders.  "Darth Marr and I worked as colleagues for a long time, and there are things we must speak about regarding the Empire that even now, I could not discuss in good conscience in the presence of a Jedi and a servant of the Republic."

"I wish I could say for sure this were the Force's will," her tone even--though only just.  "But it is clearly your will, and I will respect that.  As for Marr..."  Her eyes darted back towards my fellow Sith Lord, then to me once more.  "My trust in him remains, even now.  I will leave you to your task."

With that, Master Shan turned her back and withdrew into the forest, which seemed to silently absorb her presence with each step she took, and I turned to face the spirit of Darth Marr.


	2. The Dead

At first I told myself I was waiting for Master Shan to be completely out of earshot.  Perhaps Marr and I both told ourselves that.  The galaxy needed this man, far more than it needed one of my talents.  Darth Marr was the war leader, the one who knew the strategies of conquest and defense.  How to rally troops against dangerous odds.  True, I knew of government and I knew of battle, but not like Marr.  And Marr--whatever secrets he held on to, he did not hold on to one like mine.  One that meant my Order would flay me alive no matter how much I sacrificed for our people.  Never had he been so radiant a presence before me in the Force.  And never so sequestered from the galaxy as now, even though he stood before me.  This man had died at my side before I could build up a lightning charge or raise my lightsaber to stop it.  Yet he seemed to believe I could carry his legacy and finish the work he could not.

And that I could sense it thus now, not as candlelight veiled beneath a curtain but as a seething inferno of rage, resolve, and...perhaps hope...at such intensity it could practically have scorched my soul--that in itself was enough to render me speechless.  I could only imagine what Marr perceived now, especially with Satele Shan at a remove.  My beloved Lord Ashara had said I blazed through the Force in my own way.  But the path through the fog between me and her had formed gradually, upon foundations of implicit trust.  And love.  With my brother Talos, even though he was deaf to the Force, clarity had come much the same, with time.

_This_ revelation rested neither upon family ties, nor even the ghostly bindings of the Force-walker's blood-agreement.  But, with utter suddenness, it now _was_.

Finally I found some words, paltry as they felt.  "Do you know...that of all the spirits that I have met thus far, you are the first one I knew before he passed to the other side?"

Darth Marr, for his part, found his own temporary refuge in silence.  But it could not last, so he spoke.  " _I did not._ "

I fumbled for some further sort of explanation.  "I have known for quite some time...in theory...what it would mean to encounter someone I'd known in life.  But the actual _experience_ of it...it is a complete and utter transformation, as though receiving my sight for the first time.  And I know you must perceive the same."

Marr flinched.  Not visibly--he was entirely too disciplined for that.  But, as with my ancestor Lord Aloysius, I was finding I could read behind the mask, and the perception was unmistakable.  I'd struck deeper than intended, though I'd no idea how.

I pushed past, turned the conversation away from whatever it was that resonated so with him.  For I _knew_ the other truth that loomed between us now.  "Which means you know now," I said, "who and what I truly am."

To this Darth Marr offered a decisive nod.  " _I had always been aware of your pragmatism, your unconventional methods_ ," he began.  " _That you took life only when such was necessary, and not simply to sate the lust for blood.  When you came before us to face Thanaton I hoped to discern what it was that drove you to power, but the way was obscured.  Even Mortis and Aruk failed_."  The Dark Councillors of the Spheres of Law and Justice, and of Sith Philosophies respectively, and the two strongest telepaths and Force interrogators on the Council.  " _They never confessed their failures to me of course, but I knew.  I had never encountered that sort of veiling in the Force before then; I could only assume that your studies under Darth Zash before her passing had led you to some sort of secret ritual to cloak yourself._   _Even that never fully made sense--something like that should have limited the power you could exert by other means.  And the late discovery of your Force-sensitivity--the Overseers are not always the most competent of Sith, but the passions you demonstrated before us in the_ Kaggath _should have seared through the Force to us at unbridled intensity.  In the end, other than those shadowed hints in the Force, I had only the reports of your actions and what I saw before me, to decide what to make of you._ "

"I can't imagine choosing to trust me was a simple decision," I said, bowing my head ever so slightly.  "Still, you did...and you do even now.  Your decision honors me, Marr."

Marr preceded his reply with a low, mirthless grunt of a laugh.  " _In life I never_ fully _trusted you--that is not the Sith way.  I am sure you returned the 'favor.'_ "

"Of course."

" _As I died, though..._ "  The spirit's tone wandered in a way that told me beneath his mask, his features would have gone distant--forlorn, perhaps, if he were another man, but Marr did not allow himself that sort of pity.  Moreover, his own state was not the issue in this moment.  Mine was.  " _That's when I saw the Force you bear for what it truly is.  The Emperor's shock was so overpowering that I separated from my body even before it hit the floor.  I did not register what had happened at first.  Then I saw a great Light in the Force against Vitiate's Darkness.  I thought at first it was an aftereffect from my passing...some last signal my body sent when it shut all the way down.  Then I realized it was running through_ you _...and that it must have been there all along._ "

"Now I can't help wondering which shock you found the ruder--your death, or my heresy."  The words leapt forth from my mouth before I even had time to finish thinking them.  _Damn it, Tarssus!_ I found myself swearing again, a hundred times more vehement than the last.  _You just_ had _to open your mouth and stuff your boot straight in, didn't you?_   Bad enough _I_ found myself so fraught and now--

Amazingly he _didn't_ respond with the acrid, _Have a guess, you bloody halfwit!_ that I so heartily deserved.  The remark had wavered his composure just a bit, that I had sensed...but _only_ just a waver.  Instead Darth Marr delivered the considered answer I highly doubted I could have managed were our circumstances reversed.  " _The suddenness of my death was unexpected.  I had hoped for us to fight Vitiate--that even if it cost one of our lives the other would strike the fatal blow to end him for all time, then and there.  I did not fear death...only the consequences of failure.  As to_ you _, Imperius...when I saw the extent to which you have embraced the Light, I was stunned.  Disgusted, at first.  I thought I had chosen wrongly in bringing you to accompany me, that your Light meant hidden weakness that doomed both of us to fall.  And you_ did _fall at first._

" _Then I watched your spirit struggle against Vitiate's in the carbonite._ "  I nodded.  The agony of the frozen poison, the tormented visions the Emperor forced upon me...the stolen years...the remembrance stung--but I'd earnt the reminder.  It was only fair.  " _That was when I first began to suspect the fullness what you truly are, why I could not truly see you before, and why you too do not fear death.  Now, face to face, it is confirmed.  Do not fancy yourself Master over me, of course--_ "

"Only the living call me by that title," I demurred.  "I am no spirit's Master, especially ot since the Kaggath."

" _Indeed you are not._ "  Marr folded his arms across his armor-plated chest.  " _Even so...it is clear to me that you do not fear death because you_ are _death.  Not as the rest of us have meant it, as a boast of our power before the galaxy, but an essential truth.  An ingrained reality.  You exist in the world of the living, even as a part of you exists here, with me.  I began to see that might give you a toehold against Vitiate and_ his _nature that no one else has.  I did not know what to do with this possibility at first._ "

Now the pieces began to fall together, as I reflected on our position here on Odessen.  "So that was what drove you to seek out Master Shan," I mused.  Then a smirk: the mental comic panels were just too good.  "I should have _loved_ to see her face the first moment you manifested before her..."

For just an instant, I found my levity returned.  " _There was never a greater proof to the lie that there is no emotion._ "  Marr paused, allowed just a moment to steep in the Jedi Master's perturbation.  " _She thought herself cursed at first_ ," he continued, " _sought to banish me.  Eventually she began to debate in earnest rather than simply to preach or throw Force wards at me, for what little they accomplished.  As it stands now Master Shan believes her role--and mine--is to teach you a new approach to the Force.  She does not know it was in observing you, that I first began to see that the Force might be a far more complicated thing than most Sith or Jedi have believed it to be._ "

A wave of relief washed from head to toe.  "You've kept my secrets from her, then...?"

" _Of course_ ," my etheral colleague replied, though we both understood why I had not assumed it to be such.  " _She is not ready to accept that you found your way not as the Order of Revan did, but through_ being Sith _.  She may_ never _be ready for that, even with the advances she has made in these years of exile.  She still remains too much a servant of her Code even if not the former political structure of her Order.  For your sake, she needs her illusion.  Nonetheless, the discussions she and I have had_ have _been enlightening._ " _  
_

I felt the unseen, resolute gaze of Darth Marr intensify.  " _It was through speaking with her that over time I came to see that just as life and death are both a part of you, so too are Light--_ and _Dark.  And that this is_ not _catastrophic weakness...but immense strength.  And a particular sort this Alliance is very much in need of._ "

"I've seen how it can be of assistance," I replied.  "Still...Satele Shan is not the only one who requires her illusion.  Most Sith do as well, or they would turn in an instant--on me, on each other, on the Alliance...all of it ripped apart.  _Perhaps_ Beniko could manage--but she is not family."  Even Rûmaz had become cousin to me, and Cytharat brother-in-law.  Not Beniko--she would never bind herself to _anyone_ in that way; that I knew.  Just as it had been with Marr in life.  He, as no one else, understood why I said, "Your discretion is wise."

" _Our Empire needs you more than it may ever comprehend_ ," said Marr.  " _I'll not sabotage what my people require.  And no matter how it taxes me to manifest to the living, I shall continue to stand firm--_ "

"Marr..."  As with Lord Aloysius, I had no idea what sort of eyes my own searched out.  As for _why_...had he ever even _imagined_ such an impulse from me in the time before, surely he would have struck me down and stamped upon my grave.  Now, though--there was no shielding the hollow ache the thought of his limbo brought me, and what would be the point, even if I could, now that he knew the sorts of impulses that governed me?  "How _has_ it been for you since you passed into the other world?  I can see you've managed to project yourself far from Zakuul, but still..."

Darth Marr's reply came with the sound of one turning to set his course straight into an oncoming sandstorm.  And in his way--trapped between the grave and the hidden Places Beyond--he had.  " _Zakuul binds me, yes...but the Empire calls me more.  I will give it whatever it takes to see this fight won._ "

Perhaps there was something I could do.  His mission could continue as before, but perhaps the suffering it entailed could be relieved.  "I can't be sure under the circumstances," I began, "but I might have a way to break the grave-binding and point the way through the Light to the Places Beyond.  I have done it before, for the four spirits I bound against Thanaton.  My ancestor Aloysius Kallig was brought along in the wake."  I wasn't sure how, with neither a blood-agreement nor kinship tie between us, but still, it had to be ventured...

" _Do not tempt me, Imperius_ ," came the great Sith Lord's stern rebuke.  I forced all hint of disappointment from my face, however futile such was before the dead.  Yet the reproach fell away, piece by piece, as he continued.  " _And do not tempt yourself.  With Valkorion waiting in the wings, any attempt to Force-walk could prove your total undoing.  I will endure.  That is not your burden to bear_."  It was only the utter tranquility of the forest on this uncivilized world, so nearly devoid of sentient encroachment, that kept me from having to strain my ears to pick up that last.  Marr then pointed to the coal forge, and the steel bar lain atop it.  " _This is._ "

I closed the distance between myself and the forge, grasping the steel billet with my left hand as I raised the right one and shot a few strategically-placed sparks of Force lightning.  They danced, deep blue, into the spaces between the coals, then found their mark in the middle of the pile and caught the coal alight.

As the fire began to burn, I watched its progress as simultaneously I turned my attention through the Force to the steel from which I would forge the war knife. Master Shan had not thought to leave the materials file behind that would have identified the alloy's composition and properties--what to expect when bringing it up to temperature, best methods for heat treating and tempering.  Nor had she set aside a sample for testing.  But then I didn't expect she knew the intricacies of metalsmithing, and especially not the techniques of the ancient Sith. 

So instead I slipped my awareness into the steel through the Force, listening, as it were, for the resonances that might hint at the elements within--iron, carbon...ah...traces of chromium, manganese, vanadium, tungsten...other bits and bobs here and there...I knew what I was facing now.  _At least she thought to bring me something I can quench in water_ , I noted with some mild relief, _seeing as there's no oil in sight._ Water quenching was fickle, to say the least, and even more so on a smallish blade like this.  But I knew I could handle it, especially if I siphoned off some of the intense stress on the rapidly cooling steel through the Force.

Thus assured, I reached for the tongs Master Shan had left close by, transferred the steel to it, and started heating it up to forging temperature.  With the coal forge I would have to take special care to avoid scorching my billet--but after a few minutes, instinct began to take over and the periodic movements and observations came as automatically as if I had barely stepped onto the shuttle for the Sith Academy.

So naturally, I began to talk. 

But this time it was far from the idle chitchat Rajjar and I might have engaged in back at our former owner's smithy.  "My secrets are lain bare now," I said to Marr.  "My heresy, my connection to the dead.  Perhaps there is no longer any harm in asking this question--why is it that even in death you still wear your armor and mask?"

" _It is a symbol--a memory and an image the galaxy continues to require, even after my passing._ "  Darth Marr paused, considered for a moment.  " _That is the answer I gave Master Shan, and there is much truth in it.  But I know you see beyond that, and I will not insult your intuition to pretend any less.  I am sure you heard the rumors of what my immersion in the Dark Side of the Force had done to my body._ "

One could hardly have lived in the Sith Empire without hearing them.  Even as a blacksmith-slave I had heard quite enough, not to mention the constant swirl of vicious gossip through the backchannels of the Sith Order itself.  "It was said that your true face had become so twisted that the mere sight of it was enough to drive a man to madness and suicide.  Which I admit I always found rather difficult to believe--especially after I saw Darth Zash without the Force-illusion about her.  It was certainly tempting to retch, but not to put a saber through my skull.  Putting my saber through _her_ skull--now _that_ I gained _quite_ the urge to do, though the little matter of her attempting to steal my body...and half succeeding with Khem Val...had even _more_ to do with then her ghastly appearance." 

Marr snickered under his breath at that. 

"But I suppose that for someone with the normal interactions with the minds of the living," I proposed, "it would have been possible to create a different sort of Force-illusion, one calculated to enhance the terror rather than to mask it..."  The Dread Masters, for one, had driven many an Imperial and Republic officer to madness and death...perhaps Darth Marr had been capable of the same. 

" _I did drive Moff Xerxian to suicide...yes._ "  I did not face Marr as he spoke.  I did not particularly care to in that moment, and the reddening steel offered a most convenient excuse.   Darth Marr's words were slow, weighty.  " _But my appearance, masked or otherwise, had nothing to do with it.  It was a punishment--an affront to his sense of honor, which forbade such a cowardly exit.  It was for that reason--to destroy his reputation utterly--that I chose that as his manner of execution.  After that..._ "  Marr contemplated once more.  " _The necessity of executions under my watch decreased quite significantly._ "  


I couldn't help my words--and this time, I didn't wish to.  "You know my stance towards mental manipulation; I don't care how 'deserving' or 'undeserving' he might have been." 

Marr offered a toneless response.  " _You despise what I have done._ "

"I do," I replied, equally curt.  "And even if I _had_ those abilities, I would not steal away the power of a being to think and choose for himself." 

Darth Marr's focus bore down on me all the more.  " _But those choices have included the fatal ones, Imperius.  Surely they will yet again._ "

I reflected, chastened.  "Yes.  They have."  There were the Jedi, Nomar Organa...Ryen and Ocera, who had refused the reality before them and pressed the attack to their doom.  Many amongst the Sith as well--and it hadn't ended with the victory in Thanaton's Kaggath.  Lord Skar had come out triumphant in a feud with Kirnon, assuming since the cost had only been a few Imperial shuttles--and their personnel--in comparison to the utter mayhem Thanaton raised on Corellia, I would find it beneath my notice and not follow through on my threats to strike down any subordinate who wasted Imperial resources on their personal spite.  Skar had otherwise been a loyal servant, especially that fateful day on Corellia.  I had made the execution swift--merciful, perhaps.  But still it weighed. 

And even more so the death of Xalek...my second apprentice, a man whose bloodlust I had fought hard to temper into a disciplined weapon rather than an indiscriminate tool of mass destruction.  In the end, I had failed.  My call to relent fell on deaf ears.  He fought on until his wounds were mortal.  Xalek had died a warrior at least, and I had made this known when I sent his bones home to Kalee--but for my part, I found it no comfort.

In silence I finished heating the glowing steel billet temperature, then carried it to the anvil.  The image of an ancient, curved armor-penetrating knife began to take shape in my mind's eye.  Perhaps I had forged its like as a slave once--an ornamental trinket for some highborn man with a far lower ethical standard than my brother Talos, so he could play at having _something_ like a Sith might own.  _This_ , however...with each hammer strike as I drew the billet out to length, began to find the shape in the steel, I pounded into it another of my passions: the rage, the frustration...the grief...yes, those were all there.  But so too were the resolve, the longing for better...the love for my family, returned to be with me back at our base.

It was after several minutes of this that out of nowhere, Darth Marr began to speak once more.  I nearly jumped at the sound of his voice, but caught myself before I could lose my grip on either tongs or hammer.  " _I was a much younger man then_ ," he reflected, " _just months ascended to the Dark Council in the Great War, still driven to protect my life and power at any cost as any ordinary Sith.  I still feared death then.  That began to change after Xerxian._ "

I comprehended.  At least...I thought I did.  Though trained as Sith in the Dark Side, I had never given myself over to it in full.  Rûmaz had for a time, but only briefly, and from it had emerged my equal in heresy.  Marr had remained the unswerving devotee of the Dark until death.  And yet he had retreated from the event horizon before the singularity could consume him wholly.  "You found a price to pay that was much too high," I speculated.

The spectre nodded.  " _I had prided myself in the lengths to which I could destroy and terrify to gain and maintain my power.  Mind you I_ did _care for the fate of the Empire, even then.  But I also understood power's ultimate extension to be  immortality in the world, and thus, in its name, all was permitted.  That to do as I had set out to do--to govern and to defend--I must continue to do so without end.  And I thought that to be our--_ my _\--salvation.  Before Xerxian, I might well have been impelled to the same lengths as your former master, Zash, in pursuit of such salvation._ "

There were no words.  _That_ Marr was _nothing_ like the Darth Marr I had known during the time we shared on the Dark Council.  Nor, for that matter, the Darth Marr I had always heard about as a child.

" _Then I saw the toll that Xerxian's suicide took upon those around him_ ," Marr continued.  " _The officers and soldiers he had once commanded suffered--an entire Dreadnought fleet.  Removing Xerxian in the manner I had_ did _prevent further episodes of outright disobedience.  But his former command would not be the same for years afterwards, and were useful only as home guard.  And then Xerxian's son...who had been a promising young officer in his own right, one I had hoped would far surpass his father...ended his own life and all of his potential, because of the pall that hung over him.  That happened the year after.  I do not know what became of any further generations.  If there were any._ "

And that choice--certainly a most deliberate one-- _not to know_...it spoke volumes.  "So you eventually came to regret what you had done."

" _Not with the intensity of a heretic such as yourself._ "  The words did not come as a reproach.  Or if they did, it was not to me.  That I could plainly sense.  " _But yes--I did.  For ultimately I realized that I acted from a weakness that only I could see.  No one else could recognize it--but I would always know, down to and obviously beyond the grave_."

"This weakness...a lack of confidence, perhaps?"  I shook my head even before the question was all the way out.   "Though it's hard to equate that idea with you.  Perhaps something to do with the enemies after your position instead...?"

That elicited a short, caustic bark of a laugh.  " _Oh, we all had enemies after our positions; you well know that for yourself.  And lack of confidence?  Not as it was with old Teneb Kel...Thanaton, as you knew him...who perished running from the cryptic shadow of himself that he perceived in you.  No--it was the knowledge of something else.  Something tangible that I never dared allow anyone to know.  And it was_ not _that I was so grotesquely disfigured as anyone imagined._ "  Marr drew in a long, slow breath, then released it with equal caution.  Only then came the answer.  " _It was that I was blind._ "

"What--as in...physically blind?  Entirely so?  I never realized--you saw with the Force, perhaps?"  The idea...it simply did not compute.  The great Darth Marr...perhaps greatest of all the Sith when he lived...blind?  So of course I'd set about reconciling this somehow in what _had_ to be the absolute wrong way.  I stopped, even as curiosity swelled all the further.  "I'm sorry...I don't imagine you're accustomed to such questions."

" _No--in life I would have killed.  Perhaps even you._ "  I could not help wondering how many _had_ died for Darth Marr's secret.  " _But now?  I invited it.  I know you well enough to know what would happen when you learnt the truth._ Anyone _would know that, who had been around the Empire even briefly_."  Dared I imagine the faintest hint of jocularity in that remark?  Perhaps...but the tone as he elaborated was deadly serious.  " _Your desire to know...the sheer unquenchability of it I can now sense is part of what makes you Sith rather than Jedi--the quest knowledge as power, even if sometimes power only for its own sake, rather than a power that must always be exercised upon the galaxy._

" _But as you said...these answers can no longer bring harm.  So I shall answer your inquisition, Imperius._ "

And with that, Darth Marr reached up, slid his hands beneath his hood, and with a click...the faceplate of his mask lifted up and away.  Then he removed it entirely.

Though his hood remained up--one last vestige of protection, I suppose--the countenance of Darth Marr was clear enough.  The deep tone of his skin evoked the rugged bark of an ancient and stalwart wroshyr tree from the forests of Kashyyyk.  Scars meandered their way across his features...certainly not the worst I had beheld by far, but they hinted at burns of some sort, be they from a lightsaber, some chemical agent, or perhaps even Force lightning.  And the swath they traced out, from cheekbone to the opposite temple, connected their origin inextricably to whatever took his sight.  Small black cybernetic nodes sat unobtrusively at his temples. 

Steel-grey eyes stared back with utterly unflinching, withering intensity, to the point I felt compelled to avert my own gaze for split-second intervals, for some sort of respite.  Though his spectral eyes gave no sign of whatever damage they might have borne in life, Marr either did not recognize the unnerving effect or did not care. 

" _I lost my sight not long before my accession to the Dark Council_ ," he began, " _a final bid to stop the inevitable, I suppose, and one that could have ended in my death.  I did not succumb--but I had no wish to let my subordinates, or my future colleagues, know they had exacted_ any _price from me at all, let alone one of such a grave nature.  I could have allowed myself to be fitted with the more obvious sort of cybernetics, the sort you'll recall from Darth Skotia...but that would have been a visible admission that I was...physically compromised._ "  I tried but failed to hide a wince at the mention of Skotia.  I had assassinated Skotia at Zash's behest--shut down his cybernetics to bring him to his knees, taken advantage of his weakness just as Marr had predicted.  And I had done it for no other reason but the slavish following of orders.  Never again, I had sworn after that...but even years later, _my_ weakness in that moment--a weakness Rûmaz had _not_ displayed when Darth Baras ordered him to kill his Academy Overseer--stung like a fresh wound at the mention of Skotia's name. 

" _I already wore my mask nearly all the time in public_ ," Marr continued, ignoring the flush of shame no spirit of such power could possibly have missed. " _So instead I summoned a leading cyberneticist and several medidroids to my flat that night.  They modified my mask with a visual enhancement unit that fed directly to my visual cortex.  The implantation surgery was performed_..."

"Bloody _HELL!_ " I gasped.  For the _memory_ hit me then--a body flooded with adrenaline and an immense upwelling of the Dark Side to blunt the worst of the pain--then the drilling into the side of the skull began, the only forewarnings by the ears and the vaguest of shadows defined by the light above the table that _seared_ in its own horrific way like paired daggers straight into the brain.  "You were _awake_ for that?!"

Darth Marr nodded.  I wondered if that had _ever_ happened to him in life--the leakage of thought _so_ clearly into the mind of another.  Likely it had not, or at least not since the man's youth.  " _It must be so for neurosurgery_ ," he replied in a low tone, " _to ensure the fittings are properly done.  Nor did I wish to be at the_ mercy _of any being--not after_ that _._ "  Of the failed assassination, I caught no impression--thankfully--and I had no wish to ask, for Marr had already revealed far more than enough.  " _Hence I refused anesthesia; I wielded the pain itself through the Force to sustain myself through the process.  I destroyed all who took part in the surgery once my flat was scoured clean of the blood, save for a single droid I chose to attend me each night as I healed.  A week later, I won my seat on the Council.  All the while, no one ever knew that without my mask, I could see only light and dark, and the barest hint of shapes._ "

Never had I suspected.  Nor had anyone voiced such theories.  As to what it meant to guard such a weakness...that, I understood.  "And to think," I said, my voice barely above a whisper, "that the entire time we sat together on the Dark Council, we were each hiding a form of blindness from each other.  Darth Zash intuited it--that the veil that obscures so much of my Force to the living greatly clouds my ability to sense _them_ in that way--but no one amongst the living...outside my family, that is...has ever realized."  I met Darth Marr's unremitting gaze straight on.  "Not even Master Shan."

" _And as before, I shall not alter that, Imperius.  It is dangerous enough that Valkorion knows.  As for myself_ ," Marr assured me, " _I came here to strengthen you, not to imperil you further._ "

I accepted his words with a nod, sensing no prevarication behind them.  The Dark Lord still held his mask in his hand.  "You referred to your mask as a symbol in death."  I gestured towards it.  "But I sense there is still something more about it to you, even with your sight now restored..."

" _Yes--and not simply in defeating my would-be assassins.  This mask granted me more than a replacement for what I had los_ t," he revealed.  " _With it, I see both the very distant and the very small with great ease.  Nor are night or the glare of the sun upon sand or snow an obstacle to me--I see in spectra the human eye cannot._ "

"You _still_ see..."  I contemplated.  "It's said even the Jedi, if they pass bodily into the Force upon death, take nothing but themselves with them, not even their robes.  My memories of the last moments before Arcann froze me away are muddled, but I don't recall your bringing your mask and armor with you somehow..."

" _No...if I did not wish this to manifest, it would not._ "  Marr held up his mask.  " _I now have the ability to see with my own eyes again...when I wish it.  But the abilities this mask gave me became such an integral part of me--yes, I relied on them then because of my blindness, but why should I relinquish those skills and perspectives, now that my physical sight is restored?  I shouldn't imagine you would abandon the way you trained your intellect and senses to navigate amongst your fellow Force-sensitives and intuit what others would sense, even once you've crossed fully to our world.  For they are part of you and they will add a richness to your eternity that is hard earnt._ "

The longing in Darth Marr's voice to depart from this world resonated clear as the crystal in my ancestral saber, though I held my tongue.  "You're right," I said instead.  "I could never remove something that's become a part of me."

Marr gestured to the forge, those eyes of gunmetal grey scouring for just a moment over the curved war-knife taking shape under my hammer.  Then his stare returned to my face, unswerving once more.  " _And that is why even as you still live, I do not ask you to discard your past, but rather to build further upon your strong foundations.  So consider for now, as your blade takes shape, how you will mould the Force you impart to it.  I have heard it said of the Sith warblade that its soul is born in the passions you focus upon it in the heat treatment, particularly at the moment of the quench._ "

At that, I couldn't help myself--I grinned.  "Rajjar--the smith who trained me--would appreciate that.  He always swore that weapons...or _anything_ we forged...came alive then, even though he doesn't have the Force."

" _They listen_ ," Marr confirmed.  " _They intuit the truth, when they allow themselves.  But you have always known that._ "

I nodded.  "Indeed."

And soon enough--the time came. 

I remembered Marr's words of warning: _those who do not bend, break._   I had already thermocycled the steel twice, the purpose of these rounds of heating and air cooling being to refine the grain of the metal and reduce the stresses that came of the forging process itself.  Now was the critical moment...that of the quench.  The right degree of hardness would lend the warknife its lethality.  Too much, and the blade would crack if subject to enough force.  Later, once I returned to base, I would use my lightsaber in the place of an acetylene torch to temper the blade, targeting the heat most to the spine, which I wished to soften to allow the knife some leeway to flex and absorb the force if it bit into armor or bone. 

All of this formed a silent statement of the Force that I directed into the blade--the resilience, the refusal to allow defeat to break my spirit or to sever the bonds of love to my family or loyalty to the people of the Empire, for these stretched beyond life and beyond death.  Though I voiced none of this, I knew Darth Marr sensed the shape of it nonetheless.

As I made ready to plunge the glowing steel into the vat of water Master Shan had left for me, the Sith spirit raised one gloved hand to direct an enormous current of Force towards the metal.  I infused my consciousness into the billet, directing the power, preparing the metal to endure the enormous shock from the water.  _Don't crack, don't warp, the trial is great but you are greater...!_

Steam hissed as I forced the knife down, bled the heat from the steel into the water as the instant stretched out before me, timeless in the Force.  The trance broke just as fast, shattering as if I'd pushed through a pane of glass. 

I withdrew the blade, met Marr's steely eyes.  "It's done."

Darth Marr allowed his gaze to linger upon the warknife for a moment more, as the blade glinted in the first light of dawn, just barely begun to peek over the horizon.  Then, with a swift and practiced motion, he slid his mask back on.  It settled into place with a click.

" _That blade is part of you now_ ," he announced.  " _The next time you face Arcann in battle, he will not be ready for you.  When the moment comes, it will be there to wield.  With this dagger at your side, you will summon the fortitude to master your fears.  Through this you will stand strong to inspire others under your command to greatness, though every fiber of their being insists that they were meant to be enemies.  In that way you will fight, you will lead, and you will begin the long rebuilding that victory brings._

" _But take care.  I once thought it enough to be the unstoppable force between my people and the enemy.  I saw what you began to create within your Sphere.  Your one-time power base was impressive.  It was...more than most of us had ever aspired to.  But in the end, you were still only one facet of the Dark Council, not its head.  In that way, leading this alliance is unlike anything you have ever done before.  Directing the war effort is a mere fraction of the burden you must bear; the challenges you face now are far greater even than the infighting of the Sith Order.  It will require much of you...for the former enemies under your command are nothing like Lord Ashara, whose mind was already opened to the possibilities you provided her.  But many of those you lead now...that accommodation will not come so easily, if at all._ "

"I have seen how difficult it is for some," I acknowledged.  "And also for me."  I remembered Major Jorgan, the commander of the Republic's elite Havoc Squad.  To be led by a Sith had seemed the equivalent, at first, of submitting to a demon's command.  The two of us, at least, had found a modicum of understanding. 

But there were others for whom that would not be so simple.  Not all of them were from the Republic.  Chief amongst them was Kaliyo Djannis--the Firebrand, the Rattataki terrorist who had once fought at the side of the dreadful Imperial Agent Cipher Nine, a Chiss that, according to Lord Aloysius, had the core name of Yaruah.  Kaliyo was a volatile sociopath.  And Yaruah--a ruthless being to rival the deadliest of Sith Lords...and one whose fanatical loyalty would have driven her to order my death if she knew who I truly was, as Darth Marr knew now.  Whether she'd survived the Eternal Empire's conquests, no one knew.  Trusting her minion, Kaliyo, with even the slightest responsibility ran counter to everything in my being.

Marr nodded.  " _Remember this.  I faced Valkorion and refused to bend.  That choice broke me--and doomed the worlds I sought to defend.  You, in contrast...you recognize the need to adapt.  But it will not merely be true on the individual level.  There may come points where it is necessary to retreat from the battlefield altogether.  And it_ will _be necessary against this sort of enemy, whether you wish to embrace that necessity or not.  Or even to seek terms...to forge a peace.  But your Alliance will collapse under those strains, if you do not know yourself, and the ideal you serve.  Do you understand?_ "

As if on cue, Satele Shan emerged silently from the forest, to assume her place at Darth Marr's side.

"I understand," I said to both.  "I have always known I cannot rely on destiny, that it is an illusion.  My choices make all the difference on all levels...so I must choose wisely: respect my passions, but not be entirely overrun by them.  I will do all I can to stand firm where I can, but to bend where I must."

The former Grand Master of the Jedi spoke up.  "Your way is clear...and so is ours."  She turned, looked up at the masked Sith spirit.  "Do you feel it, Marr?  The Force draws us...elsewhere."

I narrowed my eyes.  "Yet it is _you_ who decides the significance of what you sense--and what you will make of it."

" _I, for one, make of it this_ ," declared Darth Marr.  " _The exile on Odessen is over._ "

Master Shan allowed herself a faint hint of a smile.  "A new path has opened, thanks to you.  I sense that our work here has come to fruition.  As to what lays ahead, our duty is to follow it."

"The Alliance could use you... _both_ of you...at its side," I urged, caring little for the cryptic nature of Shan's revelation.  "Surely this is not the time to run away again--"

Marr interrupted before I could gather momentum.  " _The work ahead of us will take time, I believe._ "  Though his mask hid his countenance from view once again, through the Force I could almost watch that knifelike, steel-grey gaze discreetly cut over to Master Shan as if to point to her without turning his head.  At once I understood...more than any sort of scholarship or pilgrimage in the Force, he meant the long work of rebuilding the Jedi until she was ready to face the galaxy once more.  " _But_ your _work--there is no time to spare.  We_ shall _meet again, Imperius.  That is a certainty, whether here or hereafter.  But now, your Alliance awaits._ "

I clutched tighter at the blade I had forged.  It too remained an incomplete work, though ensouled by its passage through the water.  I had yet to complete the tempering process, or to attach a suitable handle to its tang.  Perhaps, with time, I might even make a series of engravings as I had upon saber hilt and diadem.  _That_ work, at least, I anticipated with joy.  The _other_ work ahead...that of the Alliance and the battle against the Eternal Empire...that burden lay heavy upon my shoulders, as did the awareness that, Marr's assurance aside, I would carry forward without their aid once more.

As for Darth Marr...his other words rang true: that I dared not Force-walk, dared not seek to begin the ritual of Light by which I had somehow channeled the energy that led the four spirits I'd once bound--and Lord Aloysius as well--to fullest redemption and the way to the Places Beyond.  But in taking my leave of him now, I left him to an in-between existence, grave-bound yet striving for so much more than just another tormented Sith spirit.

With great effort, I focused my mind and aimed the unspoken words at him through the Force. _If Valkorion is defeated, if at any time you wish it...my offer to you will still stand._

Before the pair turned to leave, I caught Darth Marr's response.  _So noted._

That time, I swore, would come.  Not Zakuul, not even Valkorion himself, could stand in the way forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **CANON NOTES:** The idea of why Darth Marr wears his mask is one that came from ACelestialDream on Archive of Our Own. Though her story, "Unmasked," is not canon to my universe, the idea of his mask's purpose so captivated me that she graciously allowed me to use it for this story. (Warning: Her story has an "Explicit" rating and is not for any of my watchers under 18. While I normally don't read that sort of thing, what she did with the dialogue outside the erotic moments was so amazing that it caught my imagination on fire.) As for [Marr's appearance with his mask off](https://66.media.tumblr.com/b191475a22c9c9ebf7b3076db6473e2a/tumblr_nwnh1yzxrt1ug4rm6o1_500.png), that comes from what you get to see in SWTOR during the time you have Marr as your companion, if you try to change his outfit. While as far as I'm aware, this appearance is considered a "placeholder" that is necessary to create the character model, rather than canon, I decided I liked it and was going to use it.
> 
> **OTHER NOTES:** The weapon Tarssus forges is somewhat similar to a [pesh-kabz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pesh-kabz) (specifically, something like [this](https://sarblohstore.com/product/9-pesh-kabz-detailed-tokhar-blue-mayan)), made with his universe's equivalent of W2 high-carbon steel. Although, as I also noted when I wrote "The Forge and the Blade," the water quench described in this story can be a dicey thing to do, W2 is one of the blademaking steels that is at least somewhat amenable to it (that's actually what the "W" prefix represents). Also speaking of things that can be dicey to do--a coal forge, outside, no less, can be a bitch to deal with...though at least with Tarssus forging at night, he doesn't have to worry about the daytime heat or the sunlight making it harder for him to visually judge the temperature of the steel. No doubt Tarssus is also thanking his lucky stars for the extra sense the Force lends him as he works the metal! (Yet even with the Force Tarssus has limits...much as I wanted to give him a damascus blade--I mean, [this](https://sarblohstore.com/product/16-damascus-pesh-kabz-with-bone-handle) is amazing!--I felt that would be a giant pain in the ass under the primitive conditions and time constraints he's working on. I've seen enough...difficulties involving damascus or san mai builds on Forged in Fire to know that's probably asking too much of him! ;) )

**Author's Note:**

> This story represents a massive expansion/customization to the dialogue from _Knights of the Fallen Empire_ , where the Outlander encounters two of the most powerful Force users in SWTOR. There's an idea that will show up in Part 2 that came from ACelestialDream on Archive of Our Own. Though her story, "Unmasked," is not canon to my universe, the idea I got...which I won't reveal now so as not to give any spoilers...so captivated me that she graciously allowed me to use it for this story. (Warning: Her story has an "Explicit" rating and is not for any of my watchers under 18. While I normally don't read that sort of thing, what she did with the dialogue _outside_ the erotic moments was so amazing that it caught my imagination on fire.)


End file.
